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Monday, December 19, 2016

I have a piece of flash fiction in the new issue of Phoebe,
and they kindly put up a link. I wrote this piece in my prompt group (that’s
right, in 30 minutes!) and the prompt words were “hammer” and “jacket” (15
minutes on each word). Also, I remember that I decided to try writing without
quotation marks, based on a Facebook conversation I’d recently had about their use, and, honestly, that decision ended up feeling significant as I wrote.
Advice takeaway: Change up your style!

There’s not much space for an excerpt without printing the
whole story, so I’ll give just the first several lines:

You really hammer down the nail, my boyfriend says the
second he swipes shut his phone call.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Here are several lists, randomly ordered, starting with
the best books I read in 2016 (ignoring publication date). I do not include
books by friends on these lists, though, as you’ll see below, I did include a separate,
brief list of some of the books my friends published during the year that I
read. PLEASE don’t get mad if your book isn’t on there! I just really had to
mention some of these books by beloved buddies, and it was hard not to open the floodgates….

And because I realize I didn’t do this write-up in 2015, I
tacked on that list as well. I mean, why not? A good book is timeless, right?

2016

Tiny Beautiful Things
(Dear Sugar) by Cheryl Strayed: What can I say that hasn’t been said about
the wise and empathetic generosity of spirit that Cheryl Strayed brings to her
writing? Advice for all of us, and a hug to make you feel loved, sweetpea.

Manhattan ’45 by
Jan Morris: New York City! Published in the 1980s, but researched to show us
what NYC was like in 1945, at the crossroads of post-war America.

The Faraway Nearby
by Rebecca Solnit: An exploration of love and loss and the creative life, one
of the most brilliant books I have read. If I were to meet Rebecca Solnit, I
would stare in wonder at her.

Sweetbitter by
Stephanie Danler: I can’t resist a girl-goes-to-New-York book, especially when
she works in a restaurant! Read this for the New Yorkiness and the food and the
astute observations and less for the plot.

All the King’s Men
by Robert Penn Warren: A classic for a reason. From the very first page of the
road unfurling, this story pulls us through the cynical underbelly of politics
and the South. (Okay, I got a big bogged down in the family history section,
but then I’m from Iowa, not the South!)

Chelsea Girls by
Eileen Myles: Another girl goes to New York, and writes like the poet she is.
Highly readable, so don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I would just read a
sentence and set the book aside to ponder the language and its juxtaposition. I
don’t get why this is called a novel, but who cares?

Hue and Cry by
James Alan McPherson: After he died this summer, I thought it was shameful I’d
read only a couple of essays along the way…and I was right. These stories are
stunning, especially the first two.

My Body Is a Book of
Rules by Elissa Washuta: This is a flawed book, but when it was good it was
very, very good—and inventive. A dark memoir told through a variety of forms,
including lists and (especially brilliant) a dialogue with the TV show “Law
& Order SVU.”

Toby’s Room by Pat
Barker: I entered a phase of British/Irish writers while in residency at the
Hawthornden Castle in Scotland and resumed my love affair with Pat Barker and
her riveting novels about World War I. This is less-battle intense than the Regeneration
Trilogy but no less harrowing. I inhaled it from the early shocker in the first
chapter, as did two of my fellow writers in the castle! Bonus: It was exciting
to be reading a copy signed by Pat Barker (one of my literary idols) that I
found in the Hawthornden library.

A Bit on the Side
by William Trevor: Another from the Hawthornden library. I’d read William
Trevor in the New Yorker, but these
stories were a revelation. I’m not sure if it was these stories all at once or that
I was living somewhat in the landscape described, but the spare heartbreak of
these stories was gorgeous. Please, sir, may I have some more? Luckily I can,
despite his recent death…he wrote lots of books!

Birthday Letters
by Ted Hughes: Okay, I didn’t read all of this (I had to return it to the
Hawthornden Library and head home). But what I read was a thrill. No wonder
Britain is still recovering from this poet’s towering presence. (I read some
Sylvia Plath alongside for balance and conversation’s sake.)

As noted, I choose not to include books by my friends on my
list, but it seems like I can certainly mention a few books by friends that I
read (and loved!) in 2016:

Traveler’s Rest by
Keith Lee Morris: snowy, spooky novel

Crash Course by
Robin Black: short essays on life and writing

Echoes of the Tattered
Tongue by John Guzlowski: wrenching poetry about his parent’s experiences
in a German slave camp in WWII

You May See a Stranger
by Paula Whyman: linked stories about a woman trying to carve out a life for
herself

Invincible Summers
by Robin Gaines: Claudia’s father dies, and this 60s-70s era Detroit family
falls apart

Harmony by Carolyn
Parkhurst: a DC couple hopes a parenting guru can save their autistic daughter
at this off-the-grid New Hampshire camp

Ghosts of Bergen
County by Dana Cann: Ghosts, a dead child, and heroin…a potent combination

Heirlooms by
Rachel Hall: linked stories about one Jewish family’s escape from WWII-era France
and the burdens they carry into America

As noted, I see that I didn’t put together a list last year,
so because I’m compulsive and a completist, here we go, minus the commentary
because I have some Christmas tasks to get to!

Best Books (I read) in
2015

Bad Feminist by
Roxane Gay [essays]

The Love of the Last
Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald [unfinished novel]

The Trip to Echo
Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing [non-fiction]

The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan
Daum [essays]

Get in Trouble by
Kelly Link [stories]

Redeployment by
Phil Klay [stories]

Station Eleven by
Emily St. John Mandel [novel…and I’ll butt in to say, this may be the book I’ve
recommended the most over the past two years]

The Ice Cave: A Woman’s
Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic by Lucy Jane Bledsoe [essays…the
first two are a little slow IMHO…give it a chance!]

Friday Night Lights
by H.G. Bissinger [non-fiction]

And some of my favorite books by my friends in 2015:

Pasture Art by
Marlin Barton [stories and a masterful novella]

Watch Me Go by Mark
Wisniewski [novel]

My Coolest Shirt
by W.T. Pfefferle [poetry]

Count the Waves by
Sandra Beasley [poems]

Washing the Dead
by Michelle Brafman [novel]

Flying Home by
David Nicholson [stories, set in DC]

And onward to 2017! I’ve got stacks of books I want to read,
but even more exciting is to think about the random discoveries waiting ahead! Happy reading, everyone!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

One of my favorite small literary presses has just announced
its 2017 reading schedule for unsolicited submissions. Milkweed Editions, based
in Minneapolis, publishes top-quality fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry
books, and their submission windows are small…so plan ahead!